KOTRA President Kim Jae-hong looks at the items on display at Global TransporTech 2015. A view of the international transportation machinery fair that took place at Songdo Conventia in Incheon from June 4 to 5.(Photos:KOTRA)

Big players in the global automaker industry descended on Songdo Convensia in Incheon to explore ways of procuring automotive parts during Global TransporTech 2015 (GTT 2015). 

GTT 2015 was designed to provide opportunities in the transportation industry to expand into the global market. The 9th GTT took place from June 4 to 5 and was hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and KOTRA.

Some 220 global buyers from 37 countries with more than $100 million in annual sales took part. They included such global automakers as GM, Volkswagen, Audi, Continental, Bosch, Magna and other large vendors, as well as large distribution companies like Advance Auto Parts and Dacomsa. Numerous original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Tire 1 & 2 companies, and aftermarket-part distributers were invited for one-on-one meetings with Korean companies, which were also exhibitors. 141 Korean companies provided high-quality products to global companies, but they also offered competitive prices to multiple Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that are currently in effect.

GM, one of the top three automakers in the world, which has direct business links with more than 300 Korean companies, demonstrated interest in outsourcing engines, power trains, and car body automotive parts. Stackpole, one of the top three oil pump makers in the world, plans to expand outsourcing to Korea to make inroads into the Korean market. 

Ten delegates from Volkswagen, including officials from Volkswagen’s headquarters in Germany, and Chinese and Korean operations participated in the Korea-Germany Autoforum to explain the company’s procurement policies and hold one-on-one meetings. Executives from Dacomsa, one of the biggest after-market automotive parts chains in Central and South America, also participated in the fair and discussed ways of exploring ideas with Korean business partners. 

GTT represents the nation’s only OEM-oriented B2B export marking platform designed to help Korean automotive parts companies make inroads into foreign markets. 

KOTRA opened a pavilion on lightweight automobiles at GTT 2015 for the first time and sponsored the Automobile New Technology Forum. The opening of the pavilion and the holding of the forum was designed to cover carbon textiles, one of the industrial aces in the 21st century. LG Hausys, Hyosung and Korea Institute of Carbon Convergence 

Technology participated in the forum.

Fifteen Korean institutions joined forces to open a joint pavilion to help provincial SMEs explore foreign markets. Daewoo International and Hyundai Mobis each ran a pavilion designed to promote shared growth among large- and small-sized cooperative companies. The exhibitors included Incheon Metropolitan City Government, Gyeongsangbuk-do Government, Chungcheongnam-do Government, TechnoPark and Korea Industrial Complex Corp.  

Spectators, including high school students and university students majoring in automobile engineering, were given a chance to get a glimpse of the future. A forum called Dream Forum Automobile introduced the proprietary gear-load type continuously variable automatic transmission technology developed by EST-bike for the first time in the world, and the world’s first battery-changeable electric bus system developed by Bigins.

KOTRA President Kim Jae-hong said, “Korean companies should not miss the timing of the rising foreign market demand following the economic rebound in the United States and Western Europe.” KOTRA will aggressively help Korean companies cash in on global automakers and large-sized vendors’ move to expand local outsourcing, he added.